Instagram briefly removes Windows Phone 8 photos

In a move that seemed to add insult to injury for Windows Phone 8 photographers, Instagram removed many photos uploaded from Microsoft's mobile operating system.

Instagram still has not released a Windows Phone 8 version of its popular iOS and Android app, despite Nokia's begging. Instead, independent developers have created Windows Phone 8 apps that allow for photos to be uploaded to Instagram.

Users have so far been happy to use the third-party apps as an alternative to an official Instagram app. That is, until users of apps like Instance (formally known as Itsdagram) started seeing their photos disappear yesterday.

After a fair amount of freak out, Instagram explained its actions. The photo sharing social network has started to delete photos uploaded from unofficial APIs in an attempt to crack down on spam. As a result, photos uploaded from unauthorized Instagram uploaders like Instance were removed while other images uploaded through official Windows Phone 8 channels like Oggl remained.

A spokesperson from Instagram also claimed that the API crackdown did not target any specific app or operating system. Not long after Instagram made its press statement, Instance users started to see their photos reappear.